WeTried Translations

Translator: Botanica

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◈ I Became the Slit-Eyed Henchman of the Evil Boss

Chapter 4

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Business Trip to Partner Company (1)

Karisia, or more precisely, the original's White Nameless, clashes with the protagonist.

Here's the problem. What was the first trigger that made the protagonist aware of Hydra Corporation?

White Nameless had little interest in the management of Hydra Corporation.

Having secured the qualifications to manage the Magic Tower, she only saw it as a means to expand her power and reach the Ten Commandments; she was indifferent to what her underlings did.

Therefore, the eight Directors were free to engage in any 'business' they pleased as long as they met the quotas Karisia had assigned.

The business Cryton chose was violence, and the product was slaves.

"What nonsense are you talking about? I am a fair merchant. No matter how directly you serve the President, without a proper reason-"

And typically, in novels, a slave trader is the kind of person who gets entangled with the protagonist and meets their downfall.

Unfortunately, Cryton was no exception.

"I am well aware that your dealings with them are not simply those of a merchant and a customer."

Startled, Cryton's body trembled. His skin, stained a rather strange hue from the green blood flowing within, shook.

"The Toress School was involved in modifying your body. You selected those with outstanding qualities among the slaves you secured and offered them to the school."

"...Is it Arabel?"

A question asking whether Arabel, Etna City's greatest information broker, had uncovered his secrets. I decided to boost Arabel's prestige and standing a bit.

Among the eight Directors, she was the most reasonable and capable, so giving her enough authority to hold sway among them would be helpful later.

"No. This was something I didn't even need to ask Director Arabel about."

Arabel has the ability to uncover your secrets. However, the means by which I uncovered your secrets was not through Arabel's intelligence guild.

A sentence carrying two meanings. Cryton seemed to grasp the implication, unable to retort and lost in thought.

Cryton's body, in many ways inhuman, was the work of the Toress School.

Especially the neural modifications that granted reflexes tens of times greater than an ordinary human, that was the Toress School's vision.

The Toress School was an assembly of mages who primarily handled the electric attribute, but rather than shooting lightning from their hands, they preferred tinkering with brains.

Claiming that controlling the body ultimately came down to the brain's electrical signals, their taste was to implant a microscopic Magic Imprinting Drive into the brain and create puppets.

As a side project, they also developed methods to modify the body into one optimized for electrical signal transmission.

The Toress School's ultimate goal, like any other mage's, was to access the Ten Commandments, but their methodology was somewhat novel.

'If you can't earn the qualification through skill, can't you just connect by any means necessary?'

Their secret ambition was to create the ultimate magical hacker capable of illegally infiltrating the Ether Space of the Ten Commandments.

However, while modifying the vessel to achieve that ambition, the protagonist intervenes and ruins everything.

The Mage King Simon, pondering how to make contact with the Ten Commandments, clashes with the Toress School and rescues a certain slave who was to become their greatest masterpiece.

The cyborg heroine who controls lightning, Astrape.

Astrape's personal narrative seemed to end with the battle against the Toress Magic Tower, however…

'The question of which slave trader first sold Astrape eventually leads to the conflict between Hydra Corporation and Simon.'

It was this Cryton who caused White Nameless's faction, which was secretly planning the destruction of the Ten Commandments beneath the surface, to be discovered by the Mage King.

That butterfly effect cascades endlessly, eventually leading to White Nameless dying in an explosion along with the Ten Commandments.

If Karisia dies like she did in the original, the world's genre shifts from arcane punk to apocalypse.

From a society where civilization existed, though only the powerful could enjoy it.

To an ongoing, present-day apocalypse where everyone just perishes together and only desperate struggles against extradimensional anomalies remain.

'I can't live in a world like that.'

I've barely managed to scrape by and acquire the skills to take care of myself, so what happens if the whole world goes to ruin?

Therefore, my goals are first, to prevent Karisia from dying as she did in the original, and second, to retire at the right timing and live a life of leisure.

I've saved enough money to live comfortably for the rest of my life, so as long as the world I'm going to live in is fine.

It's been quite a while since I started pondering how to achieve Karisia's goal without making contact with the protagonist.

During that time, Cryton had been unable to say anything.

Since Cryton's thoughts seemed to be dragging on, I decided to offer him a convenient option.

***

"How many days until your next tribute of slaves to the Toress School?"

"Tribute!? I have an equal relationship with them! It's business-"

Cryton gazed at the President's right-hand man. Eyes that were so thin they were like fine threads, making it impossible to tell whether they were open or shut, and what he was thinking.

An eerie blue light shining beneath the eyelids seemed to be aimed at his heart.

"I will handle this matter simply. I will accompany you on that tribute trip."

The ominous implications of the crude word 'handle.'

That man was now saying he would eliminate the Toress School's base all by himself.

No confidence or arrogance could be felt.

A calmness devoid of any particular emotion, a declaration like it was simply 'a given,' an attitude like saying "one plus one equals two" that constricted Cryton even more.

"That place is merely a branch of the Toress School…."

The only words Cryton could muster were a feeble threat invoking the school's prestige.

In truth, even Cryton himself couldn't be sure whether it was a threat to Ortes or an excuse that he had no choice but to follow the Toress School's demands because they were so enormous.

Hearing this, the corners of Ortes's mouth went up. He always had a smiling face, but now it was a more definite smile.

"Excellent."

Cryton gave up trying to understand that man.

"Fine. I understand. I'll follow orders. However."

Still, there was one thing he didn't understand. He hadn't committed any act of betrayal against the company.

He just had a particular business contact.

If he had detected his secret connections, wouldn't it be normal for Hydra Corporation, as a rising power, to figure out how to utilize the existing connections?

The Toress School was a mid-tier school capable of exerting influence across multiple cities. The number of Magic Tower facilities under their control alone couldn't be counted on two hands.

The slums of Etna City were already under Hydra Corporation's grip, so if they expanded the trade further and received the Toress School's full support, unifying Etna City would be within sight.

Why on earth did he order such a inflexible severance of the deal?

"If the company supported the trade with the Toress School, we could reap huge profits. Haven't you even considered the option of cooperating with them?"

"Hmm."

Ortes stroked his chin as if he didn't understand Cryton's words.

Then came the words thrown out.

"The person we serve does not pursue grand schemes with such petty fellows."

***

Cryton, having discovered Astrape and offered her to the Toress School, was granted approval to interact with the school's main tower.

From the fact that his trading partner was a branch, it was clear that Astrape hadn't been sold to the Toress School yet.

In other words, I can prevent the incident that would draw the protagonist's attention in advance!

From Cryton's perspective, being able to cut his losses minimally before the trade got fully underway is the best option, even if he's not thrilled about it.

Because the scale of the backlash differs greatly between cutting ties while dealing with the main tower and cutting ties while dealing with a branch.

That's what I meant by 'excellent,' but I don't know why Cryton looked at me with those eyes.

When I answered his question about why I was being so difficult by conveniently invoking Karisia's name, I could feel the indefinable emotion in Cryton's gaze growing even deeper.

I blink a couple of times to shake off my wandering thoughts.

There's no point in agonizing over something from a few days ago now.

"How much longer until we arrive?"

"About 30 minutes!"

The driver of the mana driven trailer that Cryton provided answered, thoroughly tense. Behind the driver's seat, in the cargo area, people collected as slaves were loaded in a state of suspended animation.

"Ah. I'll handle everything, including the disposal of the slaves. You stay out and away."

If I start a chaotic fight right after arriving at the slave collection point, things will likely go wrong.

Me, taking on all the mages of a branch alone?

If I get caught by a low-ranking one while the highest-ranking official calls for support, saying a mysterious intruder has appeared at the main tower, things will get troublesome.

On the other hand, commotions caused by slaves escaping due to lax management are common occurrences. They won't immediately report a disturbance of that scale to the main tower.

It would be advantageous to take out the branch's leaders, who have communication authority, one by one while the low-ranking mages are busy subduing the slaves.

"Disposal… you say, sir?"

The driver looked at me with a slightly reluctant expression. It might have sounded a bit threatening.

"Oh, don't worry. Nothing like what you're thinking will happen. After you arrive, please stay far away, and no matter what sounds you hear, wait until I come out."

To the driver, who nodded hastily, I added one more word as a reminder.

"If you go back first, I'll be in big trouble"

I don't know how to drive this thing.

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